i'll never forget. he said, you know, thank you, officer. god bless you and be safe out there and kept ongoing on his way. i asked him if he wanted a cup of coffee and food, but he didn't want to. and he just kept ongoing. >> well, officer deprimo says many of his colleagues do the very same thing, similar acts routinely. very nice. thank you for watching everyone. i'm don lemon. mr. joe johns is in today for wolf blitzer. he's anchoring "the situation room." hey, joe. thanks, don. happening now, president obama says he's keeping a list of who's naughty and who's nice in the fight to keep middle class taxes from going up. and asking the public for help in getting through to the ones he sees as naughty. the historic vote at the u.n. puts palestinian hopes for statehood back in the headlines. but will it bring their dream any closer to reality? i'll ask the palestinian prime minister. and if pictures don't lie, you may be watching a power ball winner learning the good news. but who is he? wolf blitzer's off. i'm joe johns. you're in "the situation room."

republicans and democrats now have just 32 days to make a deal or your taxes are going up and more than $1 trillion automatically will be cut from vital federal programs like defense, education and housing assistance. as referred to as the fiscal cliff. and when it comes to doing something to avoid it, house speaker john boehner bluntly told reporters today, there is a stalemate. for his part, president obama is trying to break that stalemate by asking voters to put more pressure on the republicans. cnn chief white house correspondent jessica yellin and chief political correspondent gloria borger join us right now. gloria, guess i'll start with you. does the president have any leverage? >> he has a lot of leverage right now. i mean, if you look back to the

debt ceiling in the summer of 2011, you recall the president was accused of negotiating with himself because it was sort of a time of weakness for him. right now, look, joe, he's just won re-election. 67% of the american public according to our polls believes that there should be a deal that contains a combination of spending cuts and tax increases. more than half of the american public says, you know what, we'd like the taxes on the wealthy to go up. so he does have public opinion on his side. just been re-elected. so he feels like, you know, he's got the wind at his back so to speak. >> jessica yellin, when you look at the situation a lot of democrats on capitol hill are suggesting they're ready to go over the fiscal cliff. what's the president saying about that? >> reporter: well, the white house says that that's not something they're looking to do. and they think they can get this done before december 31st. but the president did go up with his treasury secretary to the

hill yesterday and presented a deal that was sort of a democratic wish list, something that went beyond what democrats know they'll get in the end. and it's basically sort of marker to say, look guys, we're frustrated. you're not laying out what would get us to a deal. and so democrats have sort of put out the ideal democratic version of a starting position and are asking republicans to come up with a response. and instead of listening response, republicans are going -- sort of balking at it. i have learned republicans gave their own starting position last week, joe. and it was a very traditional republican view where they said they would not raise rates for the highest income earners. and that is where the standoff really is at this point. the stalemate is over that $250,000 and more. >> of course one thing seems very clear right now, the president of the united states is standing up for tax increases

on the affluent. >> right. >> on the other hand this issue of entitlements may be much more difficult for the president to deal with within his own coalition. in fact, gloria, a couple key liberals on capitol hill have already weighed in on this. let's listen. >> oh, yeah. >> will i vote in the middle of this terrible recession to cut benefits for the elderly or low income people? i personally will not. >> we're not going to stand back and let seniors, people with disabilities, most low income vulnerable people in this country bear the brunt of this fiscal entanglement. >> so how does this issue of entitlements play? >> it's difficult for the president. he's got to pay attention to his base. it's what got him re-elected. on the other hand, he can make the argument to his base this is an opportunity for me to reset fiscal policy, to reshape the role of government in our lives for the next decade. so you've got to be with me on this. and in the short-term maybe he can say to them we're not going

to do entitlement reform, but in the long-term -- and there are some progressives like dick durbin -- senator dick durbin of illinois who says you've got to do this. in the long-term we have to do entitlement reform. i would argue that in the short-term we ought to look at something that might look like the clinton coalitions, which is that the leader of each party, the president and john boehner, might have to take not a majority of his own party, but less than that and come together to forge some kind of a deal. i may be living in a dream world, but i think that's within the realm of the doable. >> we also have this issue of negotiation by public appearance. john boehner versus the president of the united states. and we want to just look at the sound bites from today and talk about how much of this is posturing and how much of this is sort of revealing a bottom line. let's listen. >> when i came out the day after the election and make it clear that republicans will put revenue on the table, i took a

great risk. and then the white house spends three weeks trying to develop a proposal. and they send one up here that calls for $1.6 trillion in new taxes, calls for a little -- not even $400 billion in cuts, and they want to have this extra spending that's actually greater than the amount they're willing to cut. i mean, it was not a serious proposal. and so right now we're almost nowhere. >> -- this should come as a surprise to anybody. we had debates about it, a lot of tv commercials about it. and at the end of the day a clear majority of americans, democrats, republicans, independents, they agreed with a balanced approach to deficit reduction and making sure that middle class taxes don't go up. folks agreed to that.

now, the good news is we're starting to see a few republicans coming around to it too. >> jessica yellin at the white house, how much of this is kabooki dance? >> reporter: the real issue is, again, over raising tax rates. that is where both sides are feeling each other out. and the white house is adamant that they will not budge on this issue. and the bottom line is house republicans say that that's a no-go for them, joe. and so the question is, will house republicans come around on raising tax rates? you know, right now they say they're not going to move on it. so the white house is sort of holding back and waiting to see if house republicans move on that one issue. and right now they are very far apart because there's no giff on that. on the entitlements question, the white house does have to go further than they've gone. they have been willing to give

some, but they have to go further. and the white house is indicated if the house republicans do more in taxes, the white house will do more on entitlements. but they want to see more movement on taxes first. and they're not anywhere on that right now. >> gloria borger, somebody's got to blink. >> at the same time. together. because everybody knows what the contours of a deal is. you know, more entitlement cuts, revenue increases of some kind, they know that. get them together in a room. let them blink at the same time. come out and have a little bit of political courage. wouldn't that be interesting? >> gloria borger, jessica yellin, thanks so much for that fascinating discussion on a friday afternoon. the palestinian prime minister is in "the situation room" today too. i'll ask him whether the historic u.n. vote on observer status helps or hurts his people's quest for full statehood. questions?

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to 9 vote at the united nations to upgrade the palestinian authority status to nonmember observer state, full statehood still may be an allusive dream. with me to talk about his people's hopes and difficulties is palestinian prime minister salam fayyad. he's in washington to attend the 2012 saban forum on u.s./israel relations. it's my understanding you were against this at first. is that true? and if so, how do you feel now? >> no. i never was against it. as a matter of fact, i was very much a part of the thinking -- >> did you think it was time now? or some time down in the future? >> given the frustrations that we palestinians have had with the political process, it has not been productive. there's no question that we needed to pursue any and all available options to us. and the international law --

with the national diplomacy. and this was one of them. the question for me all along was how best to do it. provide us with some leverage going forward because what we really want end of day is genuine state where our people can live as free people with dignity. >> at the end we were just talking in the break, does this end up helping or hurting your relationship with the united states, your pursuit of something even more tangible? >> i think it depends a lot on what is done to deal with it. and whether or not we're going to spend all time in the world talking about whether or not we should have gone in the first place as opposed to really moving on. and i think that's really key. the day after, we are on the day after now. there's a conflict yet to be resolved. there's a quest for freedom and justice on part of our people. that's yet to be fulfilled. and without which there's not

going to be sustainable peace in the region. that's very important. >> the reaction in a lot of ways was visceral. and i want to show you which i'm sure you've already seen some of the comments from ambassador susan rice at the united nations. listen. >> progress towards a just and lasting two-state solution cannot be made by pressing a green voting button here in this hall. nor does passing any resolution create a state where none indeed exists or change the reality on the ground. for this reason, today's vote should not be misconstrued by any as constituting eligibility for u.n. membership. >> is this the person you want as united states secretary of state? >> that's not definitely for me to say. it's the choice of the president of the united states subject to senate. those are the rules and procedures. >> what about john kerry? you met with john kerry.

>> i also met with susan rice. i've known john kerry for many years. >> what were those meetings like? >> good. thorough, deep. yeah. someone who has been ob this issue for a long period of time. he visited the region quite often. >> you think kerry would make a good secretary of state? >> he's been -- whatever it is he did. and i have reason to believe that he would definitely perform exceptionally well in that position. >> speaking of senators, there are some people on capitol hill who say one of their major concerns is whether now with this new status you will go to the international criminal court and, for example, try to cite israel for war crimes. can you say categorically you won't do that? >> what i can say is i think it really is very important to use what happened yesterday as a building block toward doing that

which susan rice was talking about yesterday. yes, by virtue of putting a button it's not going to happen. but it's the same forum that have given israel that birth certificate some 65 years ago. and that's exactly what we're looking for. now, this is an option. as i said that's available to us, we exercised it. it comes with the possibility of joining a number of programs -- >> you might exercise it then? or you would? >> it is there. and i think to the extent there is concern about this, i think there should be much greater concern with the need for israel to begin to act in a manner consistent with what is required in order to achieve the kind of progress that ambassador rice was talking about. >> so are you prepared then for israel say to cite the palestinian authority with war crimes before the international criminal court? >> i think that's part of being a responsible member of the united states. to act and conform to international law.

and that should apply across the board for everybody. >> now, the united states gives something like $500 million in aid to the palestinians. you get about $100 million in monthly tax revenue from israel. both have threatened as a result of this to pull this funding. do you think that could lead to a collapse of the palestinian authority? >> if it were to happen, definitely. it would cripple the palestinian authority. particularly suspension of the transfer of revenues collected by the government of israel on behalf -- it's not israeli money different from u.s. assistance. that's aid. that's u.s. taxpayers money. but money that comes to us through the government of israel is specific tax money collected under existing arrange with the government of israel on behalf of the palestinian authority. that's what crippled palestinian authority. but one should ask the question, israel's right to actually issue those threats and a lot more exercise it or acting on those threats, what we have done to

seek an option available to us under international law, legitimacy and existing architecture. >> now, i know you've heard the reports that israel is planning to build thousands of new homes in the west bank. do you think this is retaliatory? >> it feels that way. although in some important sense a continuation of policy. long standing policy's been implemented for many, many years. but with the announcement coming one day after we went to the united nations for that historic vote actually, yeah, separated from threats issued by the government of israel before. again, instead of really making too much of what it is that was accomplished yesterday, if we view as accomplishment as we do, or spending too much time complaining about it, i think what is really important is look at the other side and focus on that which has derailed the process and undermined for a long period of time.

besides settlement activity. >> what is the next step? what do you think the next step is? >> i think use it as an opportunity and stop worrying about. there are many in israel who look at it this way as by the fact united nations agreed. 138 members. they can't all be wrong. you know what i'm saying? having come to the judgment they did. so instead of really continuing to look at the downside, why not really use it as an opportunity and move forward? the process has not gone as well as it should have, i mean the political process to say the least, the peace process. it's time for that to be righted. >> after this last recent unpleasantness, if i can call it that, the hamas leaders were suggesting that it was iran who supplied a lot of support to them. is iran gaining more of a foothold now in the palestinian authority? >> well, you know, iran has had ties with some palestinian

factions for some time. that continues to be the case today. it is not fundamental new or any new fundamental they've had that kind of relationship. >> do you think you could do a better job than mahmoud abbas at gaining or negotiating statehood? >> i think the president has really been handling the chores of the president's and his responsibilities including importantly in the negotiations as well as anyone could be expected to do. but the hand that he's been dealt given, you know, what i have described to you albeit briefly, positions taken by the government of israel, policies implemented particularly with respect to settlement activity, which everybody agrees including the u.s. administration that that is detrimental to the prospects of continued viability of two-state solution. how can anyone really perform better under those conditions?

the president has been doing the best he can or anybody can under these conditions. >> palestinian prime minister, salam fayyad, thank you so much for coming in. >> thank you. we have some eerie pictures of what happened today after some derailed train started leaking toxic chemicals. this is in the u.s. more details in a minute. later, an illegal drug shows promise in helping people cope with post-traumatic stress. having you ship my gifts couldn't be easier. well, having a ton of locations doesn't hurt. and a santa to boot! [ chuckles ] right, baby. oh, sir. that is a customer. oh...sorry about that. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. fedex office.

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egypt passes a new draft constitution, but that doesn't mean the country's crisis is over. lisa sylvester's monitor thag and some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. lisa, what do you have? >> hi there, joe.

hundreds of egyptians gathered for prayer in tahrir square today, protesters vowed to return to the streets. this after an assembly led by muslim brotherhood members passed a new constitution to replace the one scrapped in last year's revolution. it still must be approved by egyptian citizens, many of whom are angry at the government at what they consider to be a power grabby president mohamed morsi. and in new jersey a train car carrying highly toxic chemicals crashed into a creek near the delaware river early this morning. it happened after a bridge collapsed. the area was evacuated. and more than 18 people were treated for respiratory issues and exposure to leaking vinyl chloride. it's a known cancer-causing chemical that can cause headaches and dizziness. and as we head into the holiday shopping season, the top two companies that offer daily deals, well, they've apparently hit a rough economic patch. living social announced it is laying off 10% of its global workforce. the daily deal leader, groupon, saw its shares plunge this month

after terrible earnings report. one expert says this field apparently has a few growing pains, joe. >> i would imagine so. but so many people i know have actually gone and gotten the groupon or whatever and actually went and bought the stuff. >> i think what a lot of companies are doing is they are just promoting their own ads so they don't have to go through a groupon or living social. if you're going to do 50% off, post that on your facebook or tweet it or something like that. so in some ways they can go directly to the public with all of their specials and deals. we'll see how it happens. but you're right, groupon very hugely popular. i'm sure you've used it as well. >> a really interesting business model because after you get the coupon, then you still have to go and get the stuff. i wonder how many people actually do it. >> that's one of their concerns. you spend the money getting the groupon deals, but do you actually cash it in and get the deal before it expires? we'll see what the future of the companies are. >> thanks, lisa. president obama has been barely off the campaign trail

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joining me for today's strategy session, paul begala along with cnn contributor erick erickson, editor and chief of the conservative political blog redstate.com. president obama went today to pennsylvania to a toy store, part of his p.r. strategy to try to sell his plans on the fiscal cliff. now, we know this works well for him in politics. he's won two elections obviously. but the question really i think today is whether this very same kind of thing is as effective when the president is pushing a policy issue. and i suppose, paul, i just ought to start with you in that. >> oh, i think it is, joe. first off, the president, yes, he served in the senate for like five minutes, but he's not a

creature of washington or the establishment or the beltway. he's much better, frankly, and more comfortable in the outside game. in that sense i think he is like other great second-term presidents like ronald reagan, bill clinton. when he gets out there and makes his case in the country, that reverberates back in the capital. i think it's the best way for him to move these members of congress. >> erick, the main people he has to talk to here quite frankly are congressional republicans. are they somehow going to be swayed after this last election that the president's got the right idea all of a sudden? it doesn't sound right. >> no, i don't think so. and to paul's point interestingly enough, i was struck during the debt ceiling debate that every time the president spoke inside washington or the white house, his poll numbers went down. when he got out of washington and went out into the crowd, his poll numbers would go up saying basically the same thing. so i do think it works for him with the crowd and with the public. but i'm not sure it's going to work with congressional republicans. >> erick, i have to ask you

while we have you up there and you knew this was going to come up. there's been some talk about you running for senate in the state of georgia. to the right perhaps of senator saxby chambliss. the question i think for you is, does that make sense? there are a lot of people who suggest, look, the republicans don't have any moderates now. and they're sort of eating their own. is that the kind of sentiment that brought your name up as running against saxby chambliss? >> no, not really. you've got to keep in mind that despite a lot of the narrative out there that people are upset with saxby because of the grover norquist tax pledge, this has been a long time coming. republicans are ready to bolt on saxby in 2008 and just throw their hands up in the runoff. >> but he's a very conservative senator. >> he's one of the guys between the democrats getting 60. >> he's a very conservative senator. >> saxby chambliss is conservative on social issues but a pro-life status. he's very pro-life but for big spending in washington the whole time he's been there. >> so, paul, this anti-tax

business, it sounds like the times are beginning to turn on it. >> well, i think so. first off, erick, if you want to run, brother i was telling you this off the air. i worked for zell miller. i like your state. >> christie likes you, paul. >> on this tax question, look, voters are really set. it's about seven out of ten depending on how you ask it who want to see tax rates go up for upper income americans. nobody wants to soak the rich. but the 39.5% or so top rate that president obama wants to return to which we paid under clinton is very, very popular. republicans should ought not fall on that sword. the democrats are ed e ready to endorse 98% of the hated bush tax cuts. i would call that a win and toss the other 2% overboard. >> there's also a lot of talk here in washington, has been for

a couple weeks about false confidence. the false confidence that happened at the end of the election there. the mitt romney people pretty much told a lot of us they were confident it was going to be a long night and that they would win. i want to read you something from the new republic about team romney's internal polling. says the biggest flaw in their polling was the failure to predict the demographic composition of the electorate. the people who showed up to vote on november 6 were younger and less white than team romney anticipated and far more democratic as a result. so i want to ask you, erick, is this sort of a misunderstanding generally that republicans have to address the next time they go into an election about who the voters are going to the polls? >> oh, i don't think it's just a republican problem. i think if you look at rasmussen, gallup and a number of other pollsters out there, they all got it wrong. i think i was one of the few people on the right saying the

polls weren't wrong and e vis rated by friends for saying that. at some point you have to realize the data's not lying. >> let me just say, i want to sort of unravel that a bit. we know gallup certainly didn't do too well all throughout, but cnn certainly got it right. i think you can say nate silver got it right. so there were some people out there who actually got it. >> oh, absolutely. >> so it wasn't everybody. but in some corners. paul, what do you say? >> well, it was mostly corners of the far right. erick was a lonely voice of the reality based conservative movement. this country has changed. you know, back when i worked for bill clinton in 1992, 20 years ago, it was the modern era, we had electricity and jet travel. 88%, 88 of the electorate that voted for bill clinton that voted in the bush election was 88%. that's dropped to 72%. and the republicans are going to have to adapt. we covered all those primaries, erick, joe, you and i we were

all over them. and 90, 94%, 95% of the republican electorate in those key primaries was white. they cannot survive as a monochromatic party anymore. >> erick erickson, we've got to go. but for the record, you're not running? >> absolutely not. >> you got it. thanks so much. erick erickson, paul begala, appreciate you here in "the situation room." this week, two tickets made some champagne wishes and caviar dreams come true. but while we know who holds the golden ticket, the other power ball winner is a bit of a mystery. let's say you want to get ahead in your career. how do you get from here... to here? at university of phoenix we're moving career planning forward so you can start figuring that out sooner. ln fact, by thinking about where want your education to lead, while you're still in school, you might find the best route... leads somewhere you weren't even looking. let's get to work.

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wednesday's $587 million power ball drawing left most of

us disappointed. but those numbers were a dream come true for two ticketholders. in missouri the hill family was overjoyed by that big win. >> i went by to see what the numbers were. and i got back in my car. and i didn't have my glasses. and i was thinking, is that the right numbers? is that the right numbers? and i was shaking. and i called my husband. i said i think i'm having a heart attack. >> the second ticket is a bit of a mystery. we know it was born in arizona -- i should say bought. but the winner we think appears on a convenience store surveillance video in maryland jumping for joy. at least we think that's him. cnn's brian todd is at the store in upper marlbotin luther kingl now. brian. >> reporter: joe, we're obviously a long way from where the winning ticket was bought, but we think the winner may be from this area. and we may have caught a glimpse of him on surveillance video right at this store.

the usual midday buzz at a gas station's convenience storement on surveillance video, the buzz starts really humming. this mystery man at an exxon station in upper marlboro, maryland, thursday checks a power ball ticket with the manager. you're saying? >> i said he got it. that's the right number. >> reporter: the man may be the arizona winner of the power ball drawing. could be holding a ticket worth nearly $200 million. customer bill kilby was right next to him. >> i said the winning ticket was from arizona. he said he got back from there. said he was in the military. >> reporter: the winning ticket bought at a convenience store in phoenix. when he found out, the winner made an impression with this cashier. >> hit really bad to the counter. said, oh, my god. really hard. i'm scared. i'm scared. i think he have a heart attack. >> reporter: he says the man ran out then came back realizing

he'd forgotten to get his gas. but who is he? so far we don't have a name. this is the spot where all the excitement took place. the counter, the machine that printed out the ticket where the man checked his numbers. but it's on the surveillance tape where you can pick up a couple more clues about the guy and about his behavior here. on the video we see him before he finds out giving some cash to a young man who doesn't have enough for his purchase. we see the man's car pulling out but can't make out his license plate. a witness says he may have had a virginia department of transportation logo on the back of his vest. we searched for that logo. found a pattern that looks to be similar. a spokeswoman for that agency says it does look like one of their vests. maybe worn by someone in their safety service patrol. but they don't know who this man is. we do know he has a sense of humor. how did his behavior change once he figured out he might have won? >> i don't know. last comment i heard is he had enough money to -- i guess he was pretty happy about it.

>> reporter: now, again, we can't say with certainty if that was the arizona winner. an arizona lottery official just told us that no one has yet come forward to claim the winning ticket. the person has 180 days to do that and has to do it in arizona or mail it in. joe, just for any arizona lottery officials who may be watching, if you don't need absolute verification, i've got the markings here. just send it my way if you can. >> that's a lot of really fine reporting there on that story. so number one, beyonce's married. the other point is in arizona we are likely to find out who the winner is, right? >> reporter: that's right. the arizona lottery official told us that the person can request they don't get publicity over the whole matter, but they have a public records law that says they have to state who the winner is if that information is requested. and i'm sure once the winner comes through that information will be requested by someone.

>> brian todd reporting, thanks so much for that. jay-z, watch out. there's another big wiber winner in the jackpots. governments rake in a huge chunk of change, the highest tax rate of 35% applies. so each winner will owe $67 million to the irs if they take a one-time payout. don't forget state taxes, that state bill could range from $8 million to $11 million. not that we're likely to hear the winners complaining. cnn's getting a firsthand look at the dire situation in aleppo where the fiercest fighting in syria's civil war took place. and outrage as victims of sandy discover there are places for them to stay, but nobody told them. as a burn survivor, you think you're all alone. you think you're the only person that has scars on your face or has, you know, skin graphs on your hands. we all have a story. i joined the united states army in 2002 and deployed to iraq.

i was driving a humvee and when my friend went over a land mine i was in a medically induced coma. by the time i came out third degree burns on my head, face, arms, hands, portion of my back, portion of my legs. while i was recovering, i remember asking one of the social workers how can i help burn survivors. she said there's a great organization called the phoenix society. they're teaching them different ways to kind of cope. i went to this conference. everyone had big smiles on their face. i made a choice i was going to be positive every single day. and i'm using this positivity to give back to other people. >> please welcome a former u.s. army soldier and ins frags i prags to all of us and i hear he's a good dancer, j.r. martinez. >> i got involved with cnn heroes because of my friend who won cnn hero of 2010. the second time being at the show had the opportunity to present. please join me in honoring cnn hero taren davis.

this show is literally about highlighting people doing things to help better their communities. they've em popowered so many pee and saved so many lives. this highlights the real heroes in this world that said there's a problem, but instead of complaining about the problem, we're going to create the solution. i love coming to this show, being a part of it because i at the end of the day feel inspired.

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it's been two and a half years since private bradley manning was arrested for his alleged involvement with wikileaks. since then we've heard virtually nothing from the man accused of betraying his country until yesterday at a hearing in maryland. today, military prosecutors are

grilling him. cnn's chris lawrence is keeping an eye on the preetdings from the pentagon. chris. >> reporter: yeah, joe. bradley manning just wrapped up his time on the stand. and he spent the entire day being cross examined by prosecutors who have been poking holes in the idea that his mistreatment was so bad that he contemplated suicide multiple times when locked up. they basically went back to a key incident in what happened to him while he was at quantico where he had to stand at parade rest naked. prosecutors went back and went back to this incident. and bradley manning had to admit that he had made a statement, something to the effect of, you know, hanging himself with his underwear. that was the reason they took off his clothes. but then further more he had a blanket over him and that he thought from what the guard said he had to drop that blanket and stand there naked. but he admitted that the guards

never actually gave him an order to drop the blanket and that in subsequent days they brought his clothes with his meal tray and gave him adequate time to get dressed before standing before attention like he was called to do. so all of this, joe, is really playing out under a bigger picture, which is bradley manning's team trying to show that his mistreatment is grounds for getting credit -- extra credit for the time that he's already been locked up. there was a precedent about 12 years ago in which an airman got three days credit for every day he was locked up because he was mistreated. bradley manning's team is attempting to get about ten days credit for every one. that could work out to up to seven years off his sentence if he's found guilty or if he cops a plea, joe. >> so that's hujs in the possible sentence he miegtd serve. >> reporter: it depends, joe, if you're talking about a life

sentence, seven years off life is not a big deal. but if you're talking about the plea deal that's been put forth or been talked about so far, which is about 16 years, up to six or seven years off that is pretty significant. >> that's for sure. thanks so much, chris lawrence at the pentagon. heavy fighting is reported in syria's capital. as much of that country remains cutoff from the outside world. lisa sylvester's monitoring that and some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. hi, lisa. >> hi, joe. opposition says fierce clashes forced the airport to close for a second straight day and that internet access to more than 90% of the country remains shut off. these claims follow reports of syrian government forces trying to seize control of rebel dominated areas of the capital city raising questions about whether the regime is losing control there. and what so many new yorkers still suffering after superstorm sandy, the mayor is on the hot seat for buying hotel rooms intended for storm victims but

sit vacant. more than 100 in fact. mayor michael bloomberg says the rooms were booked as a precaution but haven't been needed so far. some displaced victims say they didn't know these rooms were available. ♪ >> okay. and you know you love them. the hit songs from michael jackson's "thriller," well, that album remains the best selling of all time when the king of pop released it 30 years ago today. hits such as "beat it" change the way we look at music videos and influenced a whole generation of artists. jackson as we all know he died back in 2009 at the age of 50. imagine that? that album is 30 years old now. >> doesn't seem possible after all these years. >> so what was your favorite song from there? >> thriller i think. billy jean. >> i know. there are a lot. you're like i love thriller and realize there are so many other

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the nightmares, flashbacks and anxiety of ptsd are tough to treat. new research is pointing in a surprising direction to the drug known as ecstasy. here's sanjay gupta. >> some part of me was on guard. it just wouldn't stop. couldn't shut it down. >> reporter: for rachel hope, the mental agony began in childhood when she says she was abused and raped at age 4. as a grown-up, the smallest trigger like a familiar smell even would bring it all back.

>> i would get very extreme stabbing sensations in my body. and then like fixed visuals like being, for instance, raped. >> reporter: mental breakdowns, four hospitalizations. and along the way rachel tried almost every treatment in the book. >> i tried endr, rapid eye movement therapy, hypnosis, yell it out, scream it out. nothing worked. >> reporter: and then she discovered an experiment run by a psychiatrist in charleston, south carolina. >> this is the place where we do the study. this is where we meet with people. and then this is where we do the sessions. >> reporter: intense psycho therapy including eight hour sessions after taking a capsule of ek scstasecstasy. listen closely. you can hear her. >> keep guiding, keep guiding.

>> it felt as if my whole brain was powered up like a christmas tree all at once. >> sometimes usually people did have some very positive affirming experiences. but a lot of the time it was revisiting the trauma. it was painful, difficult experience but it made it possible for them to do it effectively. >> reporter: within weeks rachel says about 90% of her symptoms were gone. >> i don't scream. i don't have flashbacks anymore. >> reporter: and in results just published, the doctor says 14 of 19 patients were dramatically better more than three years later. >> the question was this just a flash in the pan? did people just feel good from taking a drug? so the answer to that turned out to be, no, it wasn't just a flash in the pan for most people. >> reporter: now, of course 19 people is still just a tiny study. but it is getting attention. lori sutton was the army's top psychiatrist until she retired in 2010. >> i've certainly reviewed it. and the results look promising.

it's like with the rest of science. we'll apply the rigor, we'll follow where the data leads. we'll leave our politics at the door. >> point out that none of this means that street ecstasy is safe. apart from being illegal, you don't always know what you're getting. it's often contaminated. pure mdma can cause a higher body temperature, dehydration. there's also cases where people ov overcompensate and die from drinking too much water. in a controlled setting which is what we're talking about here, the evidence does seem to suggest that it can be safe. similar studies are underway in europe and canada. and halfway through a study offering this treatment to combat veterans, firefighters and police officers. dr. sanjay gupta, cnn reporting. you're in "the situation room." happening now, death and desperation. syrians risking their lives in search of food as civil war rages on. cnn is there on the ground. new satellite images reveal an unusual and provocative move by

north korea. and the pentagon draws a line when it comes to killer robots. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. wolf blitzer's off today. i'm joe johns. you're in "the situation room." the battle for syria is now raging around damascus. and rebels threaten to cut off the capital from the outside world. the road to the international airport there has reportedly been reopened, but flights remain grounded. in the north, rebels are making gains around the city of aleppo. [ gunfire ] this video is said to show rebels targeting regime loyalists. more than 100 people reportedly died across the country.

information is scarce. and with an internet and cellular blackout continues for a second day, but cnn has senior international correspondent arwa damon on the ground in northern syria. thanks for joining me, arwa. how are people communicating there? >> reporter: with a lot of difficulty if they even have the ability to communicate at all. this cell phone and internet blackout is really impacting everybody from opposition activists who rely on it to upload videos to rebel fighters who do not have sophisticated military technology such as long-range radios. we do quite often to use cell phones to communicate between units when they are far away from one another to ordinary people who want to check in on their families when they hear about strikes taking place in one part of the country or the other. >> now, you were in aleppo. what's happening there? >> reporter: well, we were in one particular neighborhood of aleppo that was according to

what the rebels were telling us the first neighborhood of aleppo to fall to the free syrian army. and there were quite the images that we were seeing and filmed the widespread destruction that took place there. but we are now seeing some of the residents beginning to return. and they began to return around three or four weeks ago trying to rebuild their homes. some of them were trying to fix electrical lines. we met a young woman waiting in line at the bakery. and there was a mob that was there because bread is so hard to come by. she'd been waiting for three hours. but wlapd to her is that her husband was actually wounded when she and their three children and her husband came back to this neighborhood thinking that it was safe. in fact, just a short distance from the bakery there had been an air strike that had burst a water main. there we met a 14-year-old boy who was filling containers. and his arm was in a sling. and he said he'd been wounded in the village that his family had fled to for safety. so it just gives you an idea of

just how much of a gamble it is for people wherever they go. there's always that constant risk, that constant threat. >> we've heard in the last couple days that the rebels are making progress. where does that stand? >> reporter: well, according to what our rebel commanders are telling us, bearing in mind this is an ever-shifting battlefield. the front line is constantly changing. when it comes to aleppo in particular, they do believe they control around 85% of the province. that is not including the city of aleppo itself. when it comes to the city of aleppo, they're telling us that the regime does not control 65% of it. and that most certainly shows just how many gains they've been able to make given that they are effectively battling this out on their own with no significant international financial or military support. and so they are able to continuously take the fight to the regime's forces. but it continues to be an incredibly difficult and

incredibly deadly not just for them but for the residents as well because even in these neighborhoods that the regime no longer controls in the sense that there are no regime forces in them, there are certain lines that people need to learn not to cross because snipers based in other neighborhoods can target them. and then of course there's that constant threat coming from the air as well. >> right. the regime controls the air. >> reporter: most certainly it does. and we've seen the devastation caused by these air strikes by the helicopters over and over again. that being said, there has been a slight shift in the dynamics because just over a week ago the rebels were able to capture a significant military base where they were able to get their hands on some surface-to-air missiles. they do have some surface-to-air machine guns that they are able to use. they have been able to bring down some of the aircrafts. in fact, earlier in the week they brought down two helicopters and a fighter jet in the span of just 24 hours.

but, again, still very much remains an uneven battlefield. >> arwa damon, thank you so much for your reporting. stay safe. nuclear armed north korea may be another step closer to a long-range rocket firing. whether it's an attempted satellite launch or testing a missile, either way it would be a violation of u.n. resolutions. the united states is watching closely. and so is cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr. barbara, what's the latest? >> reporter: well, joe, either way the question on the table is, is north korea in fact getting ready to launch what essentially would be an intercontinental ballistic missile that could strike the united states? another test of what so far has been failed technology. we are looking very closely at some specific satellite imagery. i want to put up the first picture for you. this is a very recent commercial satellite image from digital globe, a commercial satellite company. two pictures there. have a look. this is at a rail station. and what we see are vehicles and

a heavy crane, equipment used to move fuel tanks and other launch-related equipment at this very site. so we see the activity in very recent days more and more activity indicating they might be getting ready for a launch. this was around the rail head at the site. go to the second image. now we see a few days later the similar trailers that are used to move some of the other launch-related equipment. they're now by a missile assembly building. digital globe says this could be an indication that the missile components are now inside and these trucks are just waiting to take them to a launch pad. but here's the bottom line, joe. u.s. intelligence says they wonder is north korea maybe just messing with everybody's head moving a bunch of stuff around knowing that satellites can see it? or are they in fact getting ready for yet another test launch? joe. >> so why would they create confusion like that, barbara? >> well, you know, it's north

korea. they like to mess with everybody's head. the real fascinating question here is if in fact all of this is leading to another intercontinental ballistic missile launch. they just did one in april. it failed miserably 90 seconds off the launch pad. so are they willing to risk it again? or have they gotten some kind of advanced engineering help, design help, that makes them think they've solved their problem and that they can do this? if they believe that, the question for u.s. intelligence is who's been helping north korea. >> right. so they'd be pushing on this sort of to save face. >> well, maybe. that is in fact exactly the other theory. if they're just moving stuff around or they're going to do it anyhow, cross their fingers and hope for the best, the new leader, kim jong-un just in power about a year is this his response to pressure from hardliners inside the regime? does he feel he has to do this?

>> barbara starr at the pentagon. thank you so much for that. >> sure. wizard of oz crazy. that's how one republican lawmaker describes president obama's proposal to keep the country from going over the fiscal cliff. we have new details on the standoff that could impact all of us. plus, new scrutiny of susan rice. why questions are being raised about one of her investments. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about your old 401(k). tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 you know, the one that's been lying around. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 rollover your old 401(k) to a schwab ira, and we'll help you tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 find new ways to make your money work harder.

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and you never need referrals. so call now to request a free decision guide and learn more. after all, when you're going the distance, it's nice to have the experience and commitment to go along with you. keep dreaming. keep doing. go long. president obama and house speaker john boehner both talking today about the looming fiscal cliff. but not to each other. the president was making his case on the road while boehner was dismissing the white house proposal as a joke. cnn senior congressional correspondent dana bash joins us live from the capital. dana, what's the latest? >> reporter: well, joe, it turns out he laughed at geithner when he proposed the white house package which includes $1.6 trillion in tax increases. instead, today mcconnell floated

to "the wall street journal" the idea of revenues by medicare and eligibility age, but democrats are very dug in. they say anything that doesn't include tax increases on the wealthy is a nonstarter. a day after getting a white house proposal the republicans greeted as a joke, they're not laughing. >> now, the white house took three weeks to respond with any kind of a proposal and much to my disappointment it wasn't a serious one. >> reporter: house speaker john boehner rushed to the cameras to respond to the president's campaign-style event at a suburban philadelphia toy factory where mr. obama tried to rally support for maintaining the bush-era tax rates for middle class americans but increasing tax rates for the wealthiest americans. >> i don't think it's acceptable to you for just a handful of republicans in congress to hold middle class tax cuts hostage simply because they don't want tax rates on upper income folks to go up. >> reporter: oftentimes this kind of public toing and froing

masks active behind the scenes negotiations. the speaker insists not this time. >> is this the necessary public posturing that needs to go onto get an end game? or is there serious stalemate right now? >> no. there's a stalemate. let's not kid ourselves. i'm not trying to make this for difficult. >> reporter: boehner argues he took a political risk offering after the election to raise revenue other than tax rates. and the white house has offered little in return. >> the white house spends three weeks trying to develop a proposal. and they send one up here that calls for $1.6 trillion in new taxes, calls for a little -- not even $400 billion in cuts. and they want to have this extra spending that's actually greater than the amount they're willing to cut. i mean, it's -- was not a serious proposal. and so right now we're almost nowhere. >> reporter: gop sources tell cnn what irked them most wasn't

the big philosophical difference over raising tax rates for the wealthy. it was two other proposals in the white house package. $50 billion in stimulus spending and allowing the president to raise the debt limit making it tougher for congress to stop it. one gop congressman called that "wizard of oz-crazy," but many congressional democrats spent the first obama term frustrated with the president for not standing up to republicans enough. now democratic leaders are elated. >> elections have consequences. the president campaigned, he made it very clear -- he made it very clear that he was supporting a tax cut for the middle class, that he wanted the expiration of the tax cuts for the high end. >> reporter: and at the end of the day, joe, that is still the most significant, the biggest stumbling block on the road to the fiscal cliff, that difference between tax rates for the wealthiest americans. and what house democrats announced they're going to try

to do is an end run around the house gop to try to file a petition in order to try to push a vote on the house floor to just raise taxes -- excuse me, to just extend the bush-era tax rates for middle class americans. but to do that, as you know, they need 218 votes and there's still a very sizable republican majority in the house. it will be difficult for democrats to do that. >> absolutely. and that proposal to take away what has been historically a congressional prerogative was a little bit surprising even to people who have been reading about this stuff for years. is it true though, dana, as it has been in past years that both sides at least have to show their bases that they're fighting the good fight and that's part of what's going on here? >> reporter: absolutely. there's no question about it. what i mention in the piece really is a real phenomenon here when it comes to the feeling among congressional democrats that they are saying halleluijah. they really felt that the president didn't stand up enough to republicans over the past four years and he didn't do what

they say republicans do which is put his cards on the table. so, yes, he added some sweeteners, some things from a long list of democratic wish list. but it's something that they say, you know, is sort of negotiating 101. put everything on the table and see where they end up. republicans are not happy about it. that's for sure. >> got it. okay, dana. let's get more now with cnn chief national correspondent john king. when you look at this thing, it's just a big game of chicken. >> well, it's a big game of chicken except the stakes are rather enormous. the risk of sending the economy back into recession, the risk of having the financial markets decide yet again no reason to have any faith or trust in washington. the risk of global contagion if the united states goes off this cliff. so as dana noted, most everyone thinks in the end they'll get this done. this is the time to sort of plant your flags. as you just noted, appease your base. but there's a risk because we're in such uncertain times after the election. the republicans are looking at a presidential defeat, but they

still have the majority in the house, leader for senate up for re-election. as mitch mcconnell told "the wall street journal" today h, he wants to see the president put specifics on the table. he wants to see the president make those democrats mad and say i will raise the medicare eligibility age, i will means test medicare for more affluent americans. democrats are okay with that some of them anyway. he wants to show specific entitlement cut cards and then get revenues from the republicans, but both leader mcconnell and speaker boehner right now, joe, you know this very well, they don't want to give the president the trophy the democrats want. the democrats want that rate increase. that's been the trophy they've wanted since the bush tax cuts were put in place in the previous administration. they want it now. republicans say they won't give it to the president. you can call it chicken, a kabooki dance, but the stakes are high. >> it's interesting. you wonder if they sort of remembered what happened just a few years ago with t.a.r.p. there was a point where the congress couldn't come to an

agreement on t.a.r.p. and they ended up sinking the stock market by 700, 800 points. today i was watching as the president and john boehner were speaking watching the stock market ticking down, ticking down. a huge danger? or, again, is this just drama? >> it is a huge danger. there's been small fluctuations, relatively small fluctuations at the moment. the mat rkts have sort of invested themselves, they've factored in we're going to have this posturing, we're going to have this dance, one or two days we hope isn't going to cause a precipitous drop in the market. but as you get closer to christmas and the cliff, all these deals are usually cut at the last minute. they need to cut it at the second or third last minute here to keep people from getting nervous in the market. you mentioned, joe, t.a.r.p., come more recently to that grand bargain, john boehner and the president almost struck about a year and a half ago. since then there's been a huge trust deficit. these are very specifics the republicans going to have to give on rates, democrats give on spendsing and entitlements.

neither side wants to do that after the election. the wounds are deep. you need trust to get a deal like this done. and it's clear today that important first step rebuilding the trust deficit, closing the trust deficit, a long way to go. >> john king, thanks so much. good to see you. a warning from the fda about one of the most prescribed drugs in the u.s. new details of a massive recall. i love the holidays. and with my bankamericard cash rewards credit card, i love 'em even more. i earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. that's 1% back on... [ toy robot sounds ]

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in wyoming, authorities are investigating the deaths of three people at two crime scenes in a bizarre case. lisa sylvester's monitoring that and some of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. lisa, what do you have? >> hi there, joe. here's what we know. police responded this morning to the call of a campus in eastern

wyoming. they say a sharp edged weapon was involved. when it was all over, three people were dead including a college faculty member and the suspect who died of an apparent suicide. authorities say all three victims knew each other. and if you take a generic form of the popular drug lipitor, you want to take note. the food and drug administration says you should stop taking the cholesterol drug if it came from one of 41 lots recalled a few weeks ago. it's because of concerns about possible contamination with specks of glass. some pharmacies are still telling customers that it is okay to take that medication. and an accused ecoterrorist wanted in connection with a string of fires across the west has surrendered at the u.s./canadian board herb. rebecca reuben was part of a group responsible for the fire that destroyed a lodge and other buildings at the vale, colorado, ski resort in 1998. rubin was a fugitive for ten years. and the liquidation of hostess brands approving a bonus plan for senior executives.

bonuses range from $7,000 to $130,000. the union opposed the plan but the judge noted that rank and file employees were also getting paid beyond their regular salaries. the makers of twinkies will be closing its doors after 82 years. that's the main thing. people mention hostess and you automatically think of twinkies. it's possible you might have another company buy the brand and line. maybe the twinkies will make a comeback. it's hard to believe 82 years and all those workers. >> i know. it is sad, isn't it? awful. thanks. new israeli settlement, some fear they're making mideast peace more allusive than ever. now the u.s. weighs in. [ male announcer ] when was the last time something made your jaw drop?

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palestinians are still celebrating their historic vote to enhance their status at the united nations. but does that vote change anything? last hour we spoke to palestinian prime minister salam fayyad who said the vote was

needed to gain leverage in a two-state solution. as for a relationship with the u.s., he says the key is to move on and focus on what to do next. joining me now, middle east expert fouad ajami. thanks for joining me. the united states and israel essentially accused by the prime minister of complaining too much. do you think that's true? >> well, i think what we have to go and look back on the vote that took place at the united nations on thursday. and, joe, that was a remarkable day in terms of the symbolism of it. it was november 29. and november 29, 1947, was the famous vote of the united nations that partitioned into a jewish state and arab state. the palestinians come back and get from the united nations what they call the birth certificate of their own nation state. and when you take a look at the lopsided vote, it was amazing. what you had is 138 states voted

for the palestinians. nine states voted against them. and 41 states abstained. when you take a look at the people who voted with the united states, it was only the united states, israel and canada and a number of islands in the pacific. so it was cooked in the general assembly. >> in terms of tangible gains, what changes? is there anything that really changes with this new nonmember observer status? >> you know, joe, i think what changes is the balance of power somewhat between hamas and gaza and the palestinian national authority and ramallah. we have to think about the palestinians. they are now so divided. they have two capitals. one in gaza under hamas, an islamic jihad, and one in ramallah under mahmoud abbas and his authority. now, the palestinian authority in ramallah has taken a beaten. it seemed relevant and the people in gaza, the hamas war lords seem very mighty. so in a way there is kind of a

rectification of the balance between ramallah and gaza. this really is what mattered to the palestinian negotiators. and there is a symbolism. the symbolism is they have what they call the birth certificate. and the irony, here is something i really like when you think of ironies of history. the palestinians had a chance to be the number 59th state in the general assembly in 1947. they are now the 194th state. so it was late, but that was what you had with the vote. >> if you take the 30,000-foot view, the talks are stalled which leads to the question did palestine really have any choice? >> well, no. you're right. we have had no talks in a way. you're absolutely right on palestine. i mean, the last president -- the last american president who was committed to talks between israel and the palestinians let's give him credit, it was bill clinton. he had a passion for that issue. and he wanted to negotiate a settlement between israel and the palestinians. george w. bush could not care.

he wanted to fight the war on terror. and he thought the palestinian question was not the issue of the hour. and then came president obama. and he paid this conflict no attention. for what you have now is 12 years without any major movement on the palestinian question. and that's why this vote had this kind of impact. >> let's talk now about this report that israel is planning to build thousands of new houses in the west bank. the spokesman for the state department victoria nuland talked about that. listen to this and we'll discuss it. >> yeah. >> we reiterate our long standing opposition to settlement activity in east jerusalem construction and announcements. we also believe that these actions are counterproductive and make it harder to resume direct negotiations. >> suggesting that perhaps this is a step backward for palestine. >> well, i think there are reports from israel in fact that tell us that maybe these settlements will not be built

because they are in a very sensitive area. what you have is you have prime minister netanyahu staring at an election on january 22nd. and then in the background you have this lopsided vote at the united nations. you have this situation where even a state like germany, which is really the most sympathetic state ended up abstaining on the vote. so i think this idea of the settlements, the talk about building these settlements comes against this kind of background. and there is a real possibility that this will not happen. >> move quickly now to syria. the united states recognizing the syrian opposition council is the true and legitimate government. do you think this is a little late? >> oh, well, as they say in a way that is so late. that is so lame in a way, joe. that's so lame. you have nearly two years of slaughter. you have bashar al assad using his air force against his own people. you have 40,000 dead by united

nations estimate when the real numbers are much, much higher. and you have the disintegration of syria and talk about recognizing this new national coalition in syria. it tells you about the ab jex to this, the lead on this issue, who really ran out the clock on the syrians is none other than secretary of state hillary clinton. >> should the united states be providing arms at this point? or is that just too far? >> well, i think we have to provide arm. it's amazing. we keep complaining there are jihadists in syria. we keep complaining maybe these people will have anti-aircraft missiles. but we don't talk about what the violence inflicted on the syrian people. i think it's way late in the hour. and i think we owe it to the syrians to be truthful with them. and we owe it to ourselves to recognize a genuine humanitarian disaster in syria. >> fouad ajami, always good to see you in "the situation room." >> thank you, joe.

the u.s. is rapidly approaching the fiscal cliff with predictions of dire consequences for the entire country. we'll look at what that could mean for you. make a wish! i wish we could lie here forever. i wish this test drive was over, so we could head back to the dealership. [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. test drive! but we still need your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a jetta. that's the power of german engineering. get $0 down, $0 due at signing, $0 deposit, and $0 first month's payment on any new volkswagen. visit vwdealer.com today. stop! stop! stop! come back here! humans -- we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. that's why liberty mutual insurance has your back with great ideas like our optional better car replacement. if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. call...

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what will it mean to you if there's no financial deal between the white house and congress? cnn's tom foreman is here. probably a lot of things, huh, tom? >> it really can, joe. here's the thing, there's all this talk in washington. washington gets caught up in the politics, will the republicans win, the democrats win, the president win. what really matters is what it means to you out there. if the fiscal cliff hits and nothing changes. as you go and look at the first group of folks here, talk about people who make very little money, up to $20,000 or $20,000

to $40,000. this yellow part represents the current amount of taxes folks are paying out there. if the fiscal cliff hits and nothing changes, this group would pay about $400 more. this group down here would pay about $1,200 more. that doesn't seem like a whether or not he will lot of money, but against that kind of income it's pretty big. move to the next category. if you go to $40,000 to $64,000 in income or $64,000 to $108,000, you see the green area's much bigger. that's because there are a lot of taxpayers like this. and they're paying a fairly sizable amount. but if they're out there and the fiscal cliff goes all the way through and nothing stops it, look what's going to happen. almost $2,000 more for this group. that's what you would have to pay if you're in that group. and look down here at the other one down here, $64,000 to $108,000, $3,500 more on that. and as you move up it gets even more so. go to this group, people make $108,000 and up and certainly if

you live in a lot of major metropolitan areas, that is not a whole lot of money. you're already paying a good bit of taxes. look what happens if you go beyond that. you might have to pay an additional $14,000. so, joe, that's why all the talk is going on here. this idea that there are a lot of normal people wlo have no gain one way or the other politically in this, but they do have real dollars at stake while washington keeps fiddling and rome keeps burning. >> absolutely. especially when you have the president of the united states saying he wants to increase taxes on the top earners. that's even more attention for people in those higher tax brackets. >> it is. and the impact really, really becomes much bigger up there. you have to consider this. let's move down and take a look at that amount. what he's talking about is this $250,000 income threshold for two people. that's what we constantly hear tax policy center did some analysis on it. right now if you're in that area you have about a 33% to 35% tax rate here. the reason it's a range here is

because this is a very broad number over $250,000, well, that includes some couples somewhere that's worked very hard in their life and now each making $150,000 supporting kids in college, that may not be a lot of money in a major metropolitan area. but this also includes bill gates and warren buffett and people who make a whole lot more than those people do. under the obama plan, these percentages would tick up this much. so this is what he's pushing for against those other losses to the middle class, which republicans are talking about as well. the bottom line though is and this is something everyone's going to have to bear in mind, no matter how this turns out, an awful lot of economists say even if you do this, that doesn't mean everyone else will ultimately be off the hook, because there's still a revenue problem in this government right now. and over time there's a lot of hints that somehow those people in the middle class we talked about a moment ago are going to be nibbled at too even if the fiscal cliff is taken care of, joe. >> tom foreman, thank you for

that. there's a new controversy dogging the embattled u.s. ambassador to the united nati s nations. susan rice has been under republican fire for weeks on the attack at the u.s. consulate in benghazi. now questions are being raised about one of her investments and a possible conflict should she be tapped to replace hillary clinton. mar mary snowe has more. >> reporter: this is about the link to the oil pipeline environmentalists have been fighting. the next secretary of state will be facing key decisions about it. the latest controversy surrounding ambassador susan rice involves a major investment in the company that wants to build a controversial keystone xl pipeline. rice owns between $3,000 and $600,000 of stock in transcanada according to her own financial disclosure forms. the pipeline would connect the tar sans oil development in

canada to the u.s. gulf coast. any decision on it would fall under her jurisdiction. >> we need for the next secretary of state to be completely unburdened on any interest that could present the conflict or appearance of a conflict. >> reporter: bob deans of the natural resources defense council is among those opposing the pipeline for environmental reasons. his group's online publication brought rice's investments to light. white house press secretary was asked thursday if that would pose a conflict. >> so i'm not going to speculate about a personnel decision the president has not made, a nomination he has not put forward. >> reporter: the transcanada withholdings is one part. the watchdog group center for responsive politics estimate the couple's net worth between $23.5 million and $43.5 million as of 2009. her final link to transcanada was not an issue in her current position as u.s. am bass tor to

the u.n. if she became secretary of state, she would have to divest her holdings or put them in a blind trust. a spokeswoman for rice said in a statement "ambassador rice has complied with annual financial disclosure and applicable ethical requirements related to her service in the u.s. government and is committed to continuing to meet these obligations." whiled nrdc is speaking out about rice's potential conflict of interest, its spokesman says it supports her potential nomination and would not ask her to recuse her herself from the pipeline decision. another liberal group launched a petition online. it's demanding rice sell all of her stock. not only in transcanada but other canadian companies that could stand to benefit if the pipeline is approved. joe. >> mary snowe in new york. thanks for that. >> sure. you've seen it in the movies, robots able to kill without human controllers. one day that will be a reality.

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unmanned aircraft are being used with devastating effect against terrorist targets, but they're being controlled by humans sometimes thousands of miles away. in a couple of decades though, robotic weapons may be able to kill without human help. just like in the movies. cnn pentagon correspondent chris lawrence is with us. chris, defense planners are concerned about this. >> yeah, joe. i mean, they're worried enough to issue the very first directive on these autonomous

setting up rules for technology that doesn't exist. behind every missile there's an actual human being, someone back at base remotely pulling the trigger. but the pentagon is preparing for the day when robots are capable of killing on their own. >> the machines, they're starting to take over. >> reporter: it conjures up images of "the terminator." >> mr. chairman, i need to make myself clear, if we uplink now, sky net will be in control of your military. >> but you'll be in control of sky net, right? >> reporter: the pentagon just released its first -- effectively benefitting the lethal weapons. to minimize failures that could lead to unintended engagements. >> that's a sterile term for meaning harming innocents, killing the wrong target. >> reporter: the pentagon admits these weapons are still 20, 30 years away. that technology doesn't exist yet. so why now?

>> the thought was technology is dynamic. and we'd like to get out ahead of it. >> reporter: just this week the navy tested its next generation drone, which could carry bombs and land on an aircraft carrier with hardly any human control. the directive only applies to lethal systems and still allows the applies to lethal systems that allows them to develop spy plains. >> we want to be very careful not to cross that line without high level policy review. >> they apply the pentagon's move. >> the group is calling for governments to ban autonomous weapons. >> because the weapons are

emotionless, they can serve as a perfect tool for a dictator who would not have to worry about the danger of a human soldier turning on him if ordered to fire on his own civilians, a robot would not do that. >> reporter: a lot of ethical questions there, in fact the pentagon officials say the reason they put this out now was to head off the developers. they know that if the weapons developers develop this technology ahead of time, it's hard for any institution not to use technology that's out there and available, so the message to the developers is don't build these autonomous systems without some control built into the design. >> do you think they will heed the message? >> the pentagon is saying don't build it like this because we're not going to buy it, and money is always a big financial incentive, joe, but the way that

technology is going, it's hard not to see a day when this technology is not out there in some shape or form. >> chris lawrence at the pentagon, thank you for that. >> the ancient mayan calendar ends on december 21st. who likes pasta? >> every night, chef bruno serves free meals to 300 hotel kids. he was honored for it last year. >> it was the most amazing moment in my life. after the cnn show, a lot of people called me and said what can we do for you? >> but it was bruno who want today do more for area families living in hotel ls.

>> when i send them back, there was a moment, because i know where they go back. >> it's a hard life to escape. just ask the gutierrez family, who lived in one for more than a year. >> the rest of them sleep like this on the bed. >> he got laid off, and i started working just a month ago. it's very hard for us to save up to get into an actual home. >> let's pay the first and last month. >> by providing rent and a deposit, he helps them leave the motel life behind for good. working with a local nonprofit, 22 families have now gotten a fresh start of their own. >> the kids just run around, explore, pick out their rooms. >> congratulations. >> thank you. >> full of joy. >> we're putting back people to

their own home. >> reporter: bruno hopes to move more families by the end of the year. [ male announcer ] this december, remember -- ♪ you can stay in and like something... ♪ [ car alarm deactivates ] ♪ ...or you can get out there with your family and actually like something. ♪ the lexus december to remember sales event is on,

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a prediction with origins from a long time ago, and nasa is trying to disbell it. >> there is a rumor that the world is going to end next month, based on the mayan calendar. >> steve pace has been prepping for the end of the world for

years. >> i foresee the potential for a disaster that's catastrophic. >> cnn caught up with him in 2009 as he prepared with food, weapons, and anti-radiation pills, all for this year, 2012. >> i'm talking about collapse of civilization. >> he is among the doomsdayers that thinks december 21, 2012, will be the last. >> their calendar does not end. >> reporter: but that talk of the end of the world is sheer nonsense says scientists. they take all of the rumors, one by one, and debunk them. among the theories is that a large planet, known as nibiru will have a close encounter with earth. >> in enormous planet is suppose todd be coming towards earth, but if it were we would would

are seen it, and if it was invisible, we would see it's affect on the neighbors plants. >> reporter: but they see nothing of the sort. another is that the plants will align and cause devastating title waves. only the moon and sun have an effect on tides says nasa. they also dismissed the shifting of the earth's magnetic poles, or solar storms. there are quite a few people who are really afraid. mostly because the internet has been abuzz with talk of the world ending on december 21, 2012. david morrison says he has been inundated with e-mails, including a message from two parents who say they were planning on killing their children and themselves ahead of the day. >> i received thousands of

e-mails asking about all aspects of this strange 2012 doomsday hoax. many children say they can't eat or sleep. >> morrison put out a 2012 fact sheet, he says he's looking forward to december 22nd, so the world kl get on with their lives, and kids can look toward to christmas. >> look, they say the calendar doesn't end, it's just the end of a year, like ours, when we of a year, like ours, when we start a new year. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> happening now, we'll take you

live to the scene of a derailed train where some tank cars toxic contents are leaking. and you may be seeing the moment a powerball winner found out he won, so what happened to him? i'm kate baldwin, with jim acosta, and you're in "the situation room." republicans and kms now have just 32 days to make a deal, or your taxes are going up, period. not only that, but more than a trillion dollars automatically will be cut from vital federal programs like defense, education, and housing assistance. it's referred to as the fiscal cliff. and when it comes to doing something to avoid it, john

boehner said there's a stale met. president obama is trying to break it by asking voters to put more pressure on republicans. for more on this, let's go to jessica yellin who is tracking this today, what's the latest? >> reporter: well, the white house says tax rates have to rise on the wealthiest or there is no deal, but republicans say no, spending cuts have to be the place that negotiations begin. this is a case of who budges first. >> just when you thought campaign season was over -- >> if congress does nothing, every family in america will see their income taxes automatically go up on january 1st. >> reporter: president obama is back on the stump pressing republicans to cut a deal averting the fiscal cliff. >> it's like the lump of coal you get for christmas. it's a scrouge christmas.

>> there's a stalemate, let's not kid ourself rs. >> reporter: things got tense after secretary geithner visited capitol hill thursday to present what republicans are calling an unreasonable proposal. it includes $1.6 trillion in new taxes. in part, through raising rates on the top 2%. and lips loopholes and reductions. $50 billion in stimulus next year, and $400 billion in medicare and other entitlement savings to be worked out. >> i think the proposal delivered here by secretary geithner was not a serious proposal. >> they want this extra spending that's greater than the amount willing to cut. >> democrats say it was just a starting point. and one republicans should counter. >> there will be prolonged negotiations. and all of us are going to have to get out of our comfort zones

to make that happen. >> cnn learned last week the republicans gave the white house their own starting position, which democrats consider unbalanced. extending all the bush era tax rates, including for people making $250,000 and up. raising revenue through tax reform, and cutting medicare in part by increasing the eligibility age. >> reporter: bottom line here, both democrats and republicans are playing for leverage against the clock. and frankly, democrats are enbolden by election results that gave them more seats in the house and senate next session, and also won the president a second term in part on a pledge to do what republicans are still resisting, raising tax rates on the wealthiest americans, and tonight at the white house, they believe that is a opponent on which republicans will eventually relent, kate? >> jessica, what's the strategy behind the president taking the show on the road today?

what's the strategy there? >> you know, the president has seen the poll numbers, and a majority of americans say they support raising tax rates on the upper income americans. when he was in the payroll tax fight, and he took that case to the american people, it worked very well. he is trying to do the same thing again, have the american people put pressure on congress to get them to pass what the president wants. he's taking his case to the people, and letting them exert pressure. >> and not making republicans happy in the meantime. jessica yellin for us this evening, thank you, jessica. one thing is for sure, if congress and the president don't make a deal, everybody's taxes go up next year. >> that's right, but what you may be surprised by is the country's top wage earners and what they pay. tom foreman joins us now with a

reality check. >> the simple truth is the white house pushed this notion that not only do the wealthy not pay what they call their fair share, but they have been given bigger breaks over the year. let's go to 1980 and get a sense for this. this is roughly, if you added up all of the taxes, state, local, and federal, this is what you had, below $25,000, 20% of income, $75 to $100,000, and look at this, back in 1980, about half of people making over $450 were taxed about half of what they made. there has been a reduction, down here in the lowest level, a 1% reduction. up here, only a 3% reduction. up here, a 4% reduction.

but when you get to the top level, there is a 7% reduction. now, this is all in your interpretation. the white house wants to say look at this massive advantage that the rich people are getting that other people didn't get. they're saying, yes, but they're still paying much more than anybody else is in the system in sheer dollars and in a percentage, that shuould be takn into account. that's the nexus of this argument. each side is correct in a way in seeing yes, the benefitted from tax cuts, but they're still paying much more than anyone else. >> that springs us around to another phrase, fair share, what about that? >> that's purely a matter of interpretation. it means wildly deferent things to different people. here is one interesting way of

looking at this and people may not consider it a whole lot. if you look at the course of a calendar year, and say let's break down how much we're paying in taxes, if you could pay all of your taxes first, so everything you earn went to taxes, and then you kept the rest of the money, look at what would happen for some of the lowest earners out there. if they paid every piece of tax, for about two and a third months, something like that, all of their money would go to the government. the remainder of the year would be for all of them to keep. but if you go to the upper tax brackets, look here. they work the better part of an entire half year for the government alone. in 1980, it would have been very, very close to a half year and get no money. so the question is, where is fair in this equation? that's really what this fight is about. the white house is saying it's not fair that these people

aren't paying more, and the republicans are looking at things like this and saying, come on, how much more do you want? >> somebody has to pay, right, tom? it might be all of us, thank you very much. so the way things stand tonight, republicans say there's no deal unless the president gets specific about cuts. >> and candy crowley is joining us now. if you had the answer, we could all just go home. >> that's right. >> we're a month out, but they're negotiating and really playing tough right now. do you think that we're pushing the panic button a little too soon? you know congress loves a deadline and to go right up to it. >> yes, so i suspect we will be here on the 30th hammering things out. i don't think it's time for panic because there is a rhythm

to these things, especially post election, it's like okay, we'll all get along now because the american people don't like us to fight. and this is the hard positions. this is really, really what i want and must have. both sides have now done this at least to each other, and it will get harder and harder, it's so hard to believe that these guys, meaned the white house and congress, are going to let this thing go over the cliff. i really think the intensity of the deadline, and the intensity of what would happen, as we have outlined so often, will make them go to a deal. they don't know what it is yet. >> and if you look at the proposals, they both mace by come from their positions. is this just chest thumping going on? do they have to put on a show for their members?

>> they do. more than that, this is the kind of circling one another stage. to, you know, they try to figure out which way the adversary is going. the negotiations don't take place at press conferences and interviews -- >> sometimes it's when they're going well. the staff does it, and then, when you start to hear about the principals meeting, or phone calls, that's when they're beginning to get serious. >> and you have a big interview with one of the key principals in these negotiations, give us a preview of state of the union. >> timothy geithner, secretary of treasury, and leading the negotiations. and we have folks from chill including senator warner, and senator ayotte. >> make them strike a deal. that will be a great deal. >> state of the union, candy

crowley, we'll be there. thanks. a key senator says both sides should take a deep breath, but why wait to make a deal? we'll ask max baucus. and as bombs fall in syria, one of their neighbors is nervous. that's right. i've learned the only way to get a holiday deal is to camp out. you know we've been open all night. is this a trick to get my spot? [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. save on ground shipping at fedex office.

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. fighting raging on in syria today. they're making gains, this is said to show rebels targeting regime loyaltyist. >> and violence erupts near the airport. syria's neighbors are especially concerned. >> and their foreign minister spoke with with barbara star, who joins us now, what is jordan's biggest concern looking at that situation? >> well, you know, we talked to

the foreign minister extensively about this situation in next door syria, just across jordan's northern border. he said looking at the rising violence in the last few days, he has very fresh concerns. listen to what we talked about. >> today, i think what we're seeing is the effects of the war that is political in nature. our main worry, our main concern, is for this political civil war to slide into ethnic and sectarian civil war, and the composition is of mayor social worries for all of us. >> if it turns to ethnic civil war, what does it mean for jordan? >> we have to ensure that the political solution kicks in before it slides into becoming an ethnic and sectarian civil war.

i'm not saying this is the case now, but the elements are of that on the ground. >> reporter: what he made very clear is if this becomes ethic sectarian civil war the fear is that it spreads and begins to engulf the region. why is this so important in syria has a significant stockpile of chemical and biological weapons that threaten if they're not under control, and we know that very quietly and privately, jordan, one of the u.s.'s most important allies, is working on how to secure those weapons if it comes to that. >> do they think the u.s. is doing enough here? >> right now, what jordan needs the most from the u.s., is basically cash. they need the money to help support these refugees. they have a quarter of a million in their country, tens of thousands in camps in northern

jordan, hundreds of reiving every single night across the border. jordan is very poor, they have a lot of economic stress already, and they need the money to build these camps, to basically just feed these people, provide medical care for them, and they want more pressure for a political solution in syria, get assad out of there, so they can send these people back to their homes. >> barbara star at the pentagon for us, thank you. a scarey seen in new york and philadelphia, a train packed and philadelphia, a train packed with highly toxic chemicals. while balancing the company's bottom line, their very first word was... [ to the tune of "lullaby and good night" ] ♪ af-lac ♪ aflac [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. [ yawning sound ] part of a whole new line of tablets from dell. it's changing the conversation.

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all day we kept our eyes on the eery pictures coming in. >> a train with toxic chemicals derailed. we have an affiliate reporter joining us now. the pictures are amazing, what's the latest you're learning? >> reporter: well, kate, right now, it's dark and i'm not sure how well you can see it, but over my shoulder, you may be able to see that crews are pouring water on some of those trains cars that derailed. that is, in part, to try to disburse what is left of the chemical in one of those, it is potentially damage rouse, it can cause respiratory problems. several dozen people were taken to area hospitals complaining of things like dizziness, nausea,

but the word is that nobody was seriously affected. the all-clear was given. it was sort of a lock down. people told stay in your homes, but, it was clear that the air quality tests are okay, and throughout the day from time to time, you could get a sickly sweet order in the air. haven't smelled anything like that in several hours. >> that is the question i was going to ask you, have you been able to smell or taste this yourself? what have those folks been saying when they spaerns that, and wh -- experience that, and what do you know about these trains that carry it up and down the east coast, have they experienced anything like that before? >> not only has this area experienced something like this before, but this very bridge right here experienced a derailment and collapse three years ago. and that is something they will be investigating. there is serious questions about

that. how did a bridge, repaired to recently, fail again so soon. the ntsb did not get involved in the investigation three years ago, because there was no hazmat at that time. but the ntsb says they're absolutely going to be looking at the repair reports from three years ago and inspect reports since then. this is a con-rail bridge. they are responsible for it, but the national transportation safety board wants to know what the safety and maintenance reports now, and why it failed again so soon. >> thank you so much. only imagine the noise with the sounds of the people living around there. >> and the thought that this has happened before, something like this in that area. >> yes, they will be investigating it more i'm sure. lines drawn in the stand on the fiscal fight, but why not

solve it right now rather than later?

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squ. stalemate, that's how house speaker john boehner sdreebs discussions on the fiscal cliff right now. for his part, the president travelled to pennsylvania today arguing congress should pass the middle class tax cuts right now set to expire on january 1st. but republicans say that's a no go. any deal needs to have tax cuts for everyone. i talked about a stand off earlier on a democratic senator that's been waying in behind the scenes. joining me now is senator max baucus, senator, a very busy

week, not a lot of progress to show for it. as you well know now, republicans have soundly rejected the offer coming from the white house. even calling it absurd. this offer, do you view it as a serious offer? >> i do. i think we're in the initial stages. there are about 30 days left before the so-called cliff hits us. i think in about a week, we'll get down to serious negotiations. >> why a week? why not now? many would say we're way beyond opening bids. >> i agree, i think we should start talking now, the president and the speaker should do so, but for whatever reasons, it's a little slower. i think it's part on the speaker's side, people are not quite certain what to do about rates as opposed to capping reductions. i think the democratic side is how much of spending cuts, and

cuts can there be, and trying to figure that out. but i agree, i think they should start stepeaking and negotiatin right now. >> the white house is offering some $400 billion, but it doesn't sound like a lot of pain on the part of democrats, so where is the compromise? >> if you look at the president's budget, there is more than the numbers you suggested by a couple hundred billion. these are negotiations. that is, they're starting points. one side will go up a little, the other side down a little, to get to the middle. i was in montana a couple weekends ago, a great big football game, but call it the brawl in the wild, montana state verses the university of

montana. everybody there said max, just solve that fiscal cliff. get it done. no special pleaders. nobody said protect my income or don't cut my medicare. they said get it done. we need a solution, get it done. i think it will be done before we reach the end of the year. >> i have to ask you as the chairman of the finance committee, you will play a major role, the last time any major tax reform effort happened was back in 1986, do you think any substantial tax reform is possible in this partisan congress? >> i do. i think so. i hope so, and i also think so. and that's because since 1986, it's become so much more complicated. some 15,000 new additions to the code. it's getting weighted down, it needs to be cleaned up. get rid of some of the

deductions and credits, make it cleaner. we can lower the top corporate rate down in a revenue neutral way. and that's also, i think, very important for america to get credit and get more american jobs. >> in the terms of averting the fiscal cliff, almost every major negotiation and battle as come down to president obama and house speaker john boehner. do you think it helps or hurts that key lawmakers like yourself seem to be left out of this deal making? >> well, i'm in constant consultation with secretary geithner, with the white house, and meeting with congress, and the chairman of the house, meet with reed very off. there's a lot of conversations going on where i gave my views, and learn, and so there are more people involved.

>> now this is really coming down to, as is no surprise, the issue of tax rates, will republicans agree to raising tax rates on the wealthy as president obama made clear. are you willing to go over the fiscal cliff if republicans do not agree that that? >> i think if there is no agreement whatsoever, the president has probably no choice but to say, okay, we're going to go over the cliff. that would no be my first preference. my first preference is that as we get closer to the cliff, that we find an agreement that makes some sense, so we don't have to go over it. if we don't go over,'re entering very unchartered waters. who knows how the markets will react, what will happen -- i hope we don't have to go over. >> and it could hit almost every single american, which is why when people are watching this,

they're so frustrated they can't do what the american people want them to do. so are you telling me that congress needs a deadline and likes to go up to the deadline, is it posturing? >> no, the world is run by deadlines, you know, it's human nature not to do when you know what you should until you get closer to that deadline. it would be better if we work right now, and we are working now, but deadlines help. >> we're all watching in the process. senator max baucus, thank you, we're all counting on you. up next, a new twist to the massive protests in egypt. thousands of women hit the streets of cairo. the message they want washington to hear. aids affects us all.

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wiek take a key role in egypt's protests. jim has more of today's top stories. >> that's right, egyptians have taken to the streets saying they think their new leader is trying to hijack their constitution. raza sayia is in cairo. >> there doesn't seem to be an end to the protests here. tens of thousands protests president morsi and the draft of

this new constitution. some of his fiercest critics here are women, women's right activists. they don't like the way it was drafted, and they don't believe they were represented in the panel, and here is what else they're saying, we don't trust the president and the muslim brotherhood. >> look at other countries, they crewed all the other countries, and now they want to screw egypt. >> who is they? >> the muslim brothers -- >> so you don't -- >> they are not egyptians, they're an international organization. >> so you don't trust them at all? >> of course not. >> all of these people, we don't trust them. they push us to do whatever they want. >> how much longer are you willing to come out here and protest?

>> every day. >> i think it just started from zero. >> he says if you don't like it, go vote. what's wrong with that? >> sure, we will, but we want him and all of his people off. >> those were chants that mean cancel or annul, and arabic women and others here calling for them to cancel the draft of the constitution. they say they will not leave until he does so. in the meantime, president morsi giving no indication that he will back away. in eastern wyoming, authorities are investigating the deaths of three people, including a casper college faculty member, and the man they say is the suspect who died of

an apparent suicide. police say a sharp edged weapon was used, and it was over three victims that were there on separate crimes. all reportedly knew each other. just a couple of days ago, house republicans were getting criticized for elected all white men. today, the speaker changed that. today, a woman was named, and he says she is humbled and honored. >> i look forward to covering her. still ahead, one of the biggest mysteries of the day. there is a man, caught on camera, celebrating in maryland, have the winning ticket in arizona? lan, i just became firm about it -- you know, it's like it just hits you fast.

you know, you start thinking about what's really important here. ♪

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>> i went by to see what the numbers were, and i got in my car, and i didn't have my glasses, and i was thinking is that the right numbers, and i called my husband and said i think i'm having a heart attack. >> her heart is fine, and her family's bank account is even better, her husband, three grown sons, and 6-year-old daughter won half of this week's $587 million jackpot in the lottery. he got a text message saying call me asap, he didn't believer, he definitely does now. and the other winning lottery ticket, as many of you heard, was sold in arizona, but the man who apparently has it and showed it to people, turned up in

maryland. now he has vanished completely, brian todd is trying to unravel the mystery of the missing jackpot winner. any traces of this guy? >> not in the last several hours, jim. we're obviously a long way away from where that winning ticket was sold, but the winner may very well be from this area, and we may have caught a glimpse of him on surveillance video from this very store. >> the usual midday buzz. on surveillance video, the buzz starts really humming. this mystery man, at an exon station, checks a power ball ticket with the manager. >> you're saying -- >> what are you saying, i said, you got it, i said. that's the right number. >> the man may be the arizona winner of the power ball

drawing. this customer was right next to him. >> i said the winning ticket from was arizona, and he said i just got back from there. the winning ticket was bought at a convenience store near phoenix. when he found out, the apparent winner sure made an impression. >> he hit the counter, and said oh my god! i'm scared. >> he saying the man ran out, then came back, realizing he had forgotten to get his gas, but who is he? so far, we don't have a name. >> this is the spot where the excitement took place, the counter, the someone where he checked his numbers. but on the surveillance tape, you can pick up a few more things about his behavior. he is giving some cash to a young man who doesn't have enough for his purchase. a witness says he may have had a

virginia department of transportation logo on the back of his vest. a spokeswoman for that agency says it does look like one of their vests, but they don't know who this man is. we do know he has a sense of humor. >> how did his behavior change? >> i don't, the last comment i heard was that he had enough money to ask beyonce out. so he seemed pretty happy about it. >>. >> again, we can't say for certainty if it was the arizona winner that came to this store. i was stold that no one has yet stepped forward to redeem the ticket. they have 180 days to do that. they have to do it in arizona or they have to mail the ticket in. >> and it goes to show you that there are cameras watching

everything we do these days, we do think we'll get the name of this winner at some point, right? he or she has to come forward, and those officials in arizona would have to tell us. >> it does depend on the state, but you're right, we're told by arizona lottery officials, they can decline publicity, but they have an open records law that says if you win this, the information about your name is requested, that arizona is forced to give that out. so you can bet that when someone comes forward, that information will be requested by someone. >> all right, we'll see if he is still wearing that vest. brian todd joining us live from maryland. >> you know how many people are going through the what ifs today and this week? >> i will say, i played, and when i went into the gas station to buy the tickets, there are

three or four other people that did not know how to fill out the thing to get the power ball ticket. >> you just do the auto play or whatever it's called -- >> he's just like give me your money. exactly. >> we have all seen and heard about the ariel and pakistan, but what about under water drones? this sounds fascinating. >> it's pretty amazing. e not just talking about drones that are basically invisible. these are actually drones that can watch you, submarines. in the bodies of fish. so, next time you look at that little fish, it could be a drone and this could have huge implications for america's defense. we're going to show you how it looks when you see a fish with a drone inside it. plus, we're going to be talking

about the fiscal cliff. i have purchased this game of battleship. can you sink your opponent's fleet before your opponent sinks yours? that's coming up. happy friday. >> happy friday. i will play you in battleship anytime. i promise you will beat me. >> d6. >> have a great weekend. thanks so much. you probably don't understand ate and you may not know how to dance to it, but gangham style isn't going anywhere. alina cho sits down with the man at the center of this global craze.

coming back from that bus accident 22 years ago, my husband pulled me back into my song writing and music. that allowed me to grow that much quicker. ♪ >> don't go back down. >> i don't think there's

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you've heard the song, but many people don't know the story behind the viral sensation, gangham style. >> alina cho got it from the creator himself. >> what's fascinating is that the horse dance made famous by gangnam style was popular in the korea in the 1980s.

they put the dance to music and the rest as they say, is youtube history. i guess we want to start at the beginning. >> okay. >> gangnam. >> yeah. >> the beverly hills of soul. >> that's my point of view and i described it as like -- and at the nighttimes, so i compare all the sexy ladies to the calm at the daytime and in at nighttime especially for me and that's what the lyrics is about. >> you obviously though have a knack for performing and have a knack for dance, but do you think that part of the reason why this has become so successful and went so viral is because this dance is is something that almost anyone can do with a little bit of practice? >> it's not that easy though.

>> some of the moves are really not easy. >> when i do the dance, it looks easy. i like the horse because when people see it, it looks like oh, i cannot do that. and they're not going to do it right, but if people see it and a ha, i can do it and they are trying and people -- viral. >> they've tried -- >> that's what i'm saying. i just saw 20,000 people flash mob in italy. ♪ they were doing every moves. and they were saying every korean words. >> how crazy is that? >> so, you know, i mean, i do

performing. it's kind of, i feel kind of sorry to the audience. they don't have any idea what i'm talking about, right? >> i do. >> but when i see their face, they are so happy. but they don't, they don't have any idea what i'm talking about, but they are so happy and they are waiting all the way until sexy ladies. >> so, what will he do next? turns out he's already finished his next track. the lyrics are a mix of korean and english. release date to be announced and when i asked him don't you feel the pressure to do better than gangnam style, how do you beat nearly a billion views on youtube, he says he doesn't. he calls it a phenomenon, that he can't beat